Training for surgeons using digital satellite television and videoconferencing

The TETRASUR project (TELematics TRAining for SURgeons) has investigated th e effectiveness of distance-learning technologies in the delivery of traini ng for doctors who are studying for membership of the Royal College of Surg eons. Digital satellite television receivers and ISDN videoconferencing equ ipment have been installed in hospitals to deliver the course modules, incl uding a series of live television programmes transmitted by satellite. ISDN videoconferencing was integrated, live, into the satellite broadcasts to b ring in guest lecturers and for interactive discussions with the trainee do ctors. Videoconferencing was also used for seminars and discussion groups. These methods proved to be effective and popular with the doctors, although there was some dissatisfaction with the visual quality of the ISDN videoco nferencing at 128 kbit/s. Efforts are now being made to improve the quality of the video feed from remote sites using ISDN at 384 kbit/s.